Week of May 1, 2009

Scores more schools shut down around the country because of the swine flu

virus at week's end and Education Secretary Arne Duncan offered tips to

teachers and students on how to deal with classroom interruptions. Federal

officials closely watched developments as at least two-dozen new cases of swine

flu were reported. President Barack Obama, whose administration has taken a

high profile to offer reassurances and advice about the threat, expressed hopes

the swine flu will run its course "like ordinary flus." Health officials suggested the

virus now appears less ominous than it did at first. "I'm optimistic that we're going

to be able to manage this effectively," Obama said Friday. But he said the federal

government is preparing as if the worst is still to come so that it won't be caught

flat-footed.

Chrysler LLC is expected to file a motion to sell substantially all of its assets to

Italian automaker Fiat Group SpA, but the ailing automaker must still deal with

creditors who refused to come to a deal to erase the company's debt.

Attorneys for Chrysler say eight plants will not be affected by the sale, including

five that the automaker revealed it will shutter by the end of next year.

While Chrysler faced its first hearing in Manhattan bankruptcy court, court

documents showed the Big Three automaker planned to close plants in

Michigan, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin that employ about 4,800 people.

Chrysler said they will be offered jobs at other plants.

Jack Kemp , the ex-quarterback,

congressman, one-time vice-presidential

nominee and self-described "bleeding-heart

conservative," died Saturday. He was 73.

Kemp died after a lengthy illness, according to

spokeswoman Bona Park and Edwin J.

Feulner, a longtime friend and former

campaign adviser. Park said Kemp died at his

home in Bethesda, Md., in the Washington

suburbs.

Authorities say severe storms that rumbled

across the Southeast killed one person,

knocked out power to thousands and caused

property damage in at least three states. A

coroner says a 46-year-old Laurel, Mississippi,

woman was killed when a tree fell on her while she was standing outside her

home Sunday in the southeastern part of the state. Louisiana, Alabama and

Mississippi reported some property damage.

Week of May 1, 2009

President Barack Obama promised sternly on Monday to crack down on

companies "that ship jobs overseas" and duck U.S. taxes with offshore havens. It

won't be easy. Democrats have been fighting — and losing — this battle since

John F. Kennedy made a similar proposal in 1961. Obama's proposal to close tax

loopholes was a reliable applause line during the presidential campaign, but it got

a lukewarm response Monday from Capitol Hill.

A new United Nations report criticizes Israel for attacking U.N. installations during

the Gaza campaign, according to an Israeli description Tuesday of the still

unreleased document, which it called "tendentious and entirely unbalanced."

The report, commissioned by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon was

expected to be presented to the Security Council later Tuesday, Foreign Ministry

spokesman Yigal Palmor said. Government officials said a copy was provided to

Israel for comment, but would not provide the report.

New applications for jobless benefits plunged to the lowest level in 14 weeks, a

possible sign that the massive wave of layoffs has peaked. Still, the number of

unemployed workers getting benefits climbed to a new record.

The Labor Department reported that the number newly laid off workers applying

for benefits dropped to 601,000 last week. That was far better than the rise to

635,000 claims that economists expected.

President Barack Obama asked

Congress on Thursday to eliminate

or trim 121 federal programs for a

savings of $17 billion in the coming

budget year. Many of the proposed

cuts have already been rejected by

Obama's allies in Congress,

including some programs that his

predecessor, President George W.

Bush, repeatedly sought to end.

Despite the relatively modest

nature of the cuts, , "none of this

will be easy" amid the continuing

deep economic slump, Obama

said. The proposed cuts amount to

less than one-half of 1 percent of

the total $3.4 trillion federal budget outline approved last week by the

Democratic-run Congress.

Week of May 1, 2009

Technology -

In response to the reopening of an investigation into inadvertent file sharing with

peer-to-peer software, an executive for Lime Wire told Congress in a letter on

Friday that the new version of the program is "the most secure file-sharing

software available." The main investigative committee in the U.S. House of

Representatives reopened a probe of Lime Wire and other peer-to-peer file-

sharing companies last week, citing data breaches blamed on the technology.

Twitter has confirmed that someone broke into its network and gained access to

10 accounts, which appear to include Britney Spears and Ashton Kutcher,

according to screenshots posted on a French blog site.

"Our initial security reviews and investigations indicate that no account

information was altered or removed in any way," Twitter co-founder Biz Stone

wrote . "Personal information that may have been viewed on these 10 individual

accounts includes email address, mobile phone number (if one was associated

with the account), and the list of accounts blocked by that user," the posting said.

"Password information was not revealed or altered, nor were personal messages

(direct messages) viewed."

Medical - Connie Culp ,

after an injury to her face,

left, and then as she

appears today. Culp is

underwent the first face

transplant surgery the

United States at the

Cleveland Clinic in

December 2008 . Culp

spoke to the media at a

news conference at the

Cleveland Clinic in

Cleveland, on Tuesday,

May 5 , 20 09. The 46 -year-old mother of two lost most of the midsection

of her face to a gunshot in 2004 .

Judy Trunnell, a 33-year-old schoolteacher who had just given birth to a healthy

baby girl. But the friends and relatives whose cars lined the quiet street in front of

her home in a quiet subdivision Tuesday instead were mourning her, the first

American with swine flu to die from the current Swine Flu sweep.

A star-studded medley of musical guests played tribute to Pete Seeger at a

benefit concert for the legendary folk singer's 90th birthday.

Week of May 1, 2009

Bruce Springsteen, Dave Matthews, Emmylou Harris, Ani DiFranco and John

Mellencamp were among the 40 musicians performing in Madison Square

Garden for the Sunday night show, a benefit to raise awareness for Hudson

River Sloop Clearwater, an organization Seeger started to preserve and protect

the Hudson River.

David Hasselhoff was rushed to an L.A. hospital after suffering alcohol poisoning.

The former Baywatch star was taken to Cedars-Sinai medical center after his

daughter Hayley, 16, found him unconscious on the floor of his home in Encino,

California. He was registered with a .39 alcohol level

According to RadarOnline.com, his estranged ex-wife -- actress Pamela Bach,

who lives 10 minutes away in Hollywood -- drove him to the hospital after her

daughter called. It was more than just a night at Britney Spears' "Circus" tour for

Kyle King, who was arrested on Saturday night after he allegedly jumped on

stage with the pop star. Connecticut State Trooper Tate said that the 20-year-old

man was arrested and cited with a single breach of peace charge over the

incident, which happened during her show at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville,

Conn.

Ryan Seacrest had Paula Abdul on his KIIS-FM show to debut her much-

anticipated new single, Here For the Music .

Jay Leno missed two days of hosting

"The Tonight Show" last month due to

an illness that was rumored to be food

poisoning, but the comedian said that

his sick days - his first in 17 years of

hosting the late night show -- had a

different cause. "Exhaustion." "That's

like a rich person's condition. Poor

people that work - they don't get

exhausted. Only rich people get

exhausted. It's an embarrassing

thing."

In a sexy take on a tuxedo Rihanna

made her first major public

appearance since Clive Davis' pre-

Grammy party in February at a fashion event in New York City on Monday

evening. With her hair peppered with blonde highlights and slicked to one side,

Rihanna hit the red carpet at the Costume Institute Gala's "The Model as Muse:

Embodying Fashion" event at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City

Week of May 1, 2009

on Monday. The event is often considered the social style event of New York's

spring season.

Passing - Dom DeLuise - the portly actor-

comedian whose affable nature made him a

popular character actor for decades with

movie and TV audiences as well as

directors and fellow actors, has died. He

was 75.The comedian died in his sleep after

a long illness.

Britain for the first time has published a list

of people barred from entering the country

for what the government says is fostering

extremism or hatred.

The list includes popular American talk-

radio host Michael Savage, who has called

the Muslim holy book, the Quran, a "book of

hate." Savage also has enraged parents of

children with autism by saying in most

cases it's "a brat who hasn't been told to cut

the act out." The list Tuesday also includes

Americans Stephen Donald Black, a white supremacist, and anti-gay preacher

Fred Phelps.

Kate Gosselin of TLC's Jon & Kate Plus 8 is speaking out for the first time about

her husband Jon Gosselin -- who, according to the new issue of Us Weekly, has

been having an with a 23-year-old school teacher.Despite photos, video and on-

the-record interviews, Kate said on the Today show Thursday, "I'm very hesitant

to believe any of it. It goes with the territory."

Michael Jackson’s former publicist filed a $44 million lawsuit on Wednesday

against the self-styled "King of Pop" for failing to pay her for her services.

Raymone Bain, who represented Jackson during his 2005 trial and acquittal on

child sex abuse charges and later managed his business company, filed a

breach of contract civil lawsuit against the singer in Washington, D.C. She said in

a statement that she had decided "with deep regret" to sue Jackson, describing

him as someone "whom I have greatly admired and respected."

Week of May 1, 2009

Top TV this week in 2009

. American Idol" (Tuesday)

FOX

2. American Idol" (Wednesday)

FOX

3. Dancing With The Stars

ABC

4. Dancing With The Stars Results ABC

5. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation CBS

6. Criminal Minds" special

CBS

7. Desperate Housewives

ABC

8. Grey's Anatomy" ABC

ABC

9. NCIS" special

CBS

10. The Mentalist" special

CBS

11. Two and a Half Men

CBS

12. Survivor: Tocantins

CBS

13. Rules of Engagement

CBS

14. Cold Case

CBS

15.

60 Minutes

CBS

16.

FOX

17. Amazing Race 14

CBS

18. Fringe

FOX

19. Surviving Suburbia

ABC

20. Criminal Minds

CBS

Hip TV Wednesday (TVS)

At 8, ABC has a new Ugly Betty , followed by a new Grey's Anatomy and

Michael J. Fox: Adventures of an Incurable Optimist .

CBS has a new Survivor at 8, then a new CSI .

NBC has new episodes of My Name Is Earl , Parks and Recreation , The Office ,

30 Rock , and Southland .

FOX has new episodes of Bones and Hell's Kitchen .

The CW has a new Smallville at 8, then a new Supernatural .

Also at 8: TNT has the Hawks/Cavaliers game.

At 9, TLC has a new American

Chopper .

Spike has TNA Wrestling at 9.

HBO has the movie Grey Gardens at 9.

At 10, Bravo has the series premiere of

The Fashion Show .

Comedy Central has a new Krod

Mandoon at 10.

At the movies -

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Week of May

2009

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past

Obsessed

17 Again

Monsters vs. Aliens

The Soloist

Earth

Hannah Montana Movie

Fighting

State of Play

Fast and Furious

Battle for Tera

Taken

I Love You, Man

Knowing

Crank High Voltage

The Haunting In Connecticut

Observe and Report

12 Rounds

Is Anybody There?

Paul Bart: Mall Cop

Under The Sea 3D

Adventureland

Hot hits this week in 2009 -

The Climb - Miley Cyrus

DAY 'N' NITE- Kid Cudi

SUGAR- Flo Rida

SAY HEY (I LOVE YOU)- Michael Franti & Spearhead

WE MADE YOU- Eminem

BLAME IT- Jamie Foxx ft. T-Pain

DON'T TRUST ME- 3Oh!3

I KNOW YOU WANT ME (CALLE OCHO)- Pitbull

IF YOU SEE AMY- Britney Spears

EVERYTHING YOU DREAMED- Verona Grove

BOOM BOOM POW- Black Eyed Peas

YOUNG- Hollywood Undead